Brooklyn 45
The end of WWII brought with it not only the end of one of the most calamitous times in world history, but also ushered in the age of paranoia in America. The Cold War with Russia was around the corner, and that brought with it a time where many Americans were unsure if they could trust their own neighbors. One of the things Ted Geoghegan does in his screenplay for “Brooklyn 45” so well is capture the rising unease Americans had with one another after WWII ended, as well as the reconciliation many soldiers coming home had to do with what they did overseas. There are supernatural elements of the film, but the main thing the characters have to deal with is their own conscious.
It’s December 1945, and the war has ended. On a winter night, four officers who fought in the war- Marla and Bob Sheridan (Anne Ramsay and Ron E. Rains), Mjr. Archibald Stanton (Jeremy Holm) and Mjr. Paul DiFranco (Ezra Buzzington)- come to see a fifth officer, Lt. Col. Clive Hockstatter (Larry Fessenden), whose wife, Susan, committed suicide over Thanksgiving. Immediately, we sense tension between several of the individuals- how did Marla marry a bureaucrat when she was the best interrogator America had? Why is DiFranco uneasy seeing Stanton? Why is Bob uneasy about it? Hockstatter is grief-stricken, and has been looking for answers about why his wife killed herself, and he thinks he has an idea as to how to get them- a séance. The four are skeptical, but go with him, but the answers are simply a gateway to more questions.
Words are sometimes better than visuals at giving us a sense of how the past maintains a hold on an individual. Certainly, show don’t tell can be an important part of cinematic storytelling, but often, seeing a characters face in the film’s present day as they think about something from the past can convey more than seeing the past for ourselves. Geoghegan could have created some striking, haunting images of events we hear about in “Brooklyn 45,” but he keeps us in the room with these characters, and shows us to ways in which war left scars on these people that will never, truly heal. As the story unfolds, we hear from Hockstatter suggestions of why his wife killed herself, involving a neighboring German woman (Kristina Klebe) whom she thought was a spy. During their time together, we find out that the Hockstatters were asking for help from several of the guests, but no one came to their aid. It’s understandable- the war is over, and for some, they’d rather not be reminded of the awful things they had to do. Unfortunately, all will have no choice but to do so.
The film’s supernatural elements are minimal, but impactful. The séance is where much of the effects take place, and they grab us and make us- and the characters- believe. “Brooklyn 45” is not as interested in supernatural ghosts, however, but memories and choices we cannot escape. The supernatural just forces these characters to face them head-on. It had me from minute one, and as the credits rolled, stayed with me.
